Suddenly
by Kooshball
Summary: Heck, the title sounds like a romance between Jessie and James, or Ash and MistyMay. But it’s not. They’re not real. But the Pokemon are. Rated for medium level swearing.
1. The Begining

**Chapter 1: The beginning **

I guess it started on my sixteenth birthday. Well, actually, it started years before that, but we got involved around my sixteenth birthday.

My name is Koosh. Well, not really. I'd tell you my real name, but no-one uses it anyway. No-one uses Frog or Ekl's real names either, but I'll get to them in a minute.

I'm medium in height and weight, I guess, with long brown hair and blue-grey eyes. Fairly basic appearance, you probably wouldn't pick me out of a crowd, unless the crowd were people with pink hair or something. My only really distinguishing feature is my boobs. Yes, I realise that generally, if someone says they have a big chest on the internet, it means they're fat. That's not my case. I'm reasonably small around the waist, but my bust means I have to buy a size up in T-shirts. And to all of the girls out there, who _want_ bigger boobs, count yourself lucky. You can always buy a push up bra, or pad your bra up, or something. Me, on the other hand, I can't make my chest smaller, and I hate it.

I'm a writer, or I'd like to be. Yes, I've written stuff and put it on the internet, and I must be doing something right, because I have a few people who really seem to enjoy my work. Maybe that's why I'm writing this. Maybe I'm just venting my feelings out on the world through this. I don't know. The main thing is I'm writing it all down.

I mentioned Frog and Ekl a paragraph up or so. I said I'd tell you about them.

Ekl is one of my best friends. She's shorter than me, slightly bigger around the middle, with dark brown hair that's cut shorter than mine, and blue eyes. She got her nickname ages ago when typing in the word "Elliott" onto the computer. She was looking for a cricketer or something. Anyway, she ended up typing "Ekl" instead, and the name kind of stuck. She's into all of that Japanese anime with the American names and dubbing, such as Pokemon, CrushGear, BeyBlades, etc. She's yet to get into YuGiOh, but by my reckoning, it's only a matter of time. I'll admit it now, I also like Pokemon. And I love the Japanese cartoon anime style. But I'm not as hooked on it as I used to be, or as Ekl is now.

Frog is my other best friend. He's taller than me by a few centimetres, and I've known him since grade four. I don't know Frog's natural hair colour, it's been dyed leafy green since I met him. Before that, even. I don't know his real name, no-one does, and I think even his parents have forgotten it. They just signed him into school as "Frog E. Walker", and it's never changed. Maybe "Frog" is the given name on his birth certificate, I don't know. He had green eyes, covered slightly by his longish hair, and quite a nice looking face. And body. Girls from other schools faint when he walks past. I feel lucky to be his friend, but our relationship has never gotten any further than that. Frog is good at a lot of things. He's pretty good at sports, mainly throwing and hitting sports, and is a champion swimmer. However, his main talent is computers. There isn't a computer on Earth he can't hack into, and I'm surprised he hasn't been caught yet. Frog doesn't like much else apart from his computer and his sports. He takes his friends very seriously, which I'm grateful for, and his stamp collection, which, yes, is a bit nerdy and stereotypical of his computer skills, but what are you going to do?

I should probably mention now that Frog and Ekl don't like each other a lot. In fact, they're always teasing each other, Frog's usually better at it than Ekl. I asked them why they put up with each other, one day, and I swear, they both answered in unison "Because I'm your friend, and if I have to put up with him/her, then fine." Then they went back to fighting about cars or something else just as stupid.

We live in a small town. Well, Frog and I live on farms about an hour out, but Ekl lives in town. The town is based around a lake, about four feet deep, and well over three or four kilometres around. It can get a little empty in the summer, but it gets filled up with water the farmers don't use at the end of the season. The town has maybe eight hundred, nine hundred people in it; a true country town. Most of the farm area around here is sheep and a few cattle, but there is grain over the far side of the town. However, it is so dry here, that even the cactus look dried out and brown. Although it might sound like it, I don't live in the red centre of Australia. I live further down south, in central Victoria. I won't bother you with the name of the town, it's unnecessary information.

I live on a small farm, in the middle of nothing. Frog's place is about a twenty minute walk from our farm, just up the road, really. We have a mix of animals on our farm. There's two dozen sheep or so, half a dozen cows, a small flock of ducks, geese and chickens, plus the dog, Lu. No horses, unfortunately. The only other animals are a family of feral cats. There are seven or eight of them, and all of them have names. You can't pat them, or go within five feet of them, they're too wild. Dad would like to have them shot, but they seem to disappear at the sign of danger. Frog's place is much the same, except with fewer feral cats and three horses.

I said it started around my sixteenth birthday, but I never told you what. You'll know soon enough, I guess.

It was at school, in the computer room before the bell went for first class. It was my birthday, and Ekl and Frog had pulled me aside to give me presents.

I enjoy the things my friends get me. They seem to really know me well. Frog doesn't follow Pokemon, yet he knows enough to actually get me something worth while. Last year, it was a life sized Flareon toy from eBay. If Frog isn't doing something illegal on the net, he's on eBay, even though it's meant to be blocked by the school computers. Like I said, Frog can get past computer system. Ekl is good with presents, too. She has a flare for finding interesting stuff. The year before the last, she found me a rare book I'd been looking for from a second hand book store. I'd combed that shop from shelf to shelf, and I missed it completely, so I was very surprised when she gave it to me. So I was looking forward to this year, especially when they hinted that they'd found me some very special gifts.

"Open mine first," Ekl pleaded, thrusting a purple, glittering package at me. I opened the card, cooed at the cat on the front, and thanked her for the message inside ("Happy 16th, lots of love") before turning my attention to the present. It may sound very shallow of me to be more interested in the gift than the thought behind it, but that's not the case. I knew my friends spent hours, sometimes even days looking for the right present. I do the same for them. Ok, so maybe it's easier to shop for Ekl than Frog, but all the same, I make sure there isn't anything more perfect than what I've picked.

I ran my finger under the sticky tape holding the parcel closed, and ripped it open quickly. Inside was a shoe box. It was an old joke of ours that if we got a small present, we had to put it into a bigger box. The shoe box was lined with tissue paper, and held a small, red velvet box in the centre. I took out the velvet box and opened it, Ekl watching me excitedly. It was a silver brooch, about two to three centimetres in diameter, of a small flame. It glinted in the light, and I knew she must have spent a small fortune on it.

"It's excellent," I told Ekl, giving her a one armed 'thank you' hug.

"Here's mine," Frog said, dumping his present on the table in front of me. This one was covered in a thin, rice paper, probably specially ordered off the internet. I didn't bother looking for a card; that wasn't Frog's style. I opened the present carefully, as the paper was way too nice to ruin by ripping it apart. The present was obviously not small, I could tell by the weight. Frog looked smug; he thought his present was going to be better than Ekl's. When I saw what was inside, I frowned and picked it up.

It was a belt with six Pokeballs attached to it.


	2. Strange Happenings

**Chapter 2: Strange happenings**

Ekl's eyes went wide when she saw the belt.

"Hell," she breathed. I agreed. This was extremely weird.

"Where'd you find this?" I asked.

"EBay," Frog said with a shrug. "Some guy was selling them from Japan, and postage cost a fortune." _Of course_, I thought, rolling my eyes. Frog buys all of his present off the internet.

"So, is there a story behind them?" I asked, picking one of the red and white balls off. They were smallish, about the same size as a jaw breaker. It was metal, not plastic like I half expected, and cool to the touch, kind of like aluminium. It came off the belt easily, and when I pressed the button, it expanded to the size of a large orange. A second press of the button shrank it down again. When I held it back to the black belt, it snapped back on. It seemed to be magnetized, or something.

"Like I said," Frog said, "some guy in Japan was selling them, and he had a whole heap. I spent most of my pay on three of them." Frog was always rubbing it in that he had a job on the weekends in town. Ekl and I were poor most of the time, having to beg money from our parents if we wanted anything.

"You bought _three_ of them?" I asked. "You realise it's a Pokemon thing, right?"

"Yeah, well," Frog said, shrugging again. "I thought maybe there was a trick behind them, and I could replicate it. There's a belt for you, one for Ekl, and one for me to take apart."

"You bought me one?" Ekl asked. She yelled excitedly, dancing around the room.

"Cut it out," I snapped at her. I wanted to find out more about the belt. "So, what does it do? Are there figurines in them? Or do they come with collectable cards or stickers or something?"

"They're empty," Frog admitted. "I don't know what they're for. There's none left for sale, and I can't get through to the person I bought them from."

"Weird," I said. Ekl nodded in agreement. The bell sounded, and we all looked up from the belt.

"It's not time for assembly, yet," Ekl said. "We've got twenty minutes!"

"That's not the assembly bell," Frog said as the bell continued ringing. "That's the evacuation bell."

"Smokers in the girls toilets again," I suggested, rolling my eyes, walking for the door with my presents in one arm. "Those year nines think it makes them more mature, just because they smoke."

"Well, it'll be their problem in twenty years time," Frog said. Frog wants to become an Olympic swimmer in a few years, and won't let anyone light up next to him, in case they ruin his chances of making it to the Games.

"I thought the school took out the smoke alarm system in the toilets _because_ of the year nines?" Ekl asked. I shrugged. I didn't have another explanation, except maybe for a fire drill, or a real fire. However, the teachers knew that not everyone was at school by twenty to nine. Not even all of the teacher's would have arrived yet. What was the point in having a fire drill so early in the day? With this thought in my mind, I quickened my step. Frog and Ekl followed suit, but I could tell Ekl wasn't happy with the idea.

"Slow down," she complained. "It's only a drill."

"At this time of morning?" I asked. We started running then. I don't know, but I was feeling spooked about it all.

Whenever there is a fire drill at school, we all go to the oval to make sure everyone's there and safe. I don't know how the teachers were meant to do that; not everyone was here, and they had yet to mark the roll. We went to the oval anyway. There were a few teachers there, and about three quarters of the students, all looking slightly bewildered. Not even the principal had arrived at school yet.

"This is weird," I said to Frog and Ekl.

"Considering this place is usually boring-town," Frog added.

"Hey," Ekl yelled to someone two years below us. "Do you know what's going on?"

"Animal control has been called in from the next town over," the boy replied.

"Animal control?" I asked.

"Yeah, some year nine went into the toilets for a smoke, and says she got attacked by something," the boy replied. "Looked like a giant rat."

"They evacuated us for a _rat_?" Frog asked.

"She said it was about as long as her arm," the boy said.

"Hell," Ekl said.

* * *

We were on the oval for three and a half hours. Three and a half _long_, miserable hours in the dreary winter weather of sitting on wet grass as the animal control people looked for this giant rat. Now, I know I mentioned that where I live is dry, but during the winter, it is also cold and horrible. Cold winds, grey clouds that only drizzle ever so lightly, enough to be annoying, but not enough for the crops. I can't say I liked the winter weather much, but I found it better than drowning in sweat during the summer.

"Come on, how hard can it be to catch a rat?" Frog asked.

"Especially since it's the size of a cat," I added. We were huddled under the trees, and I was half grateful for two friends who didn't like each other. This meant they wouldn't sit next to each other, and I was in the middle. It was warmer between Frog and Ekl, and I could pretend I was drier, too.

"Hey," someone said, and all three of us turned to see my younger brother, Tom. Tom is three years younger than me, and a good deal shorter. My guess is that it was because when he was younger, he wouldn't eat anything but peanut butter sandwiches. There was a guitar swung over one shoulder, and although I really hate to admit it, he could play a few songs really well. He couldn't sing, however, no matter how much he practiced. Tom has shaved brown hair and blue eyes. People say we look alike, but neither of us could see the resemblance.

"Where the hell have you been?" I demanded, not moving from my spot. "The whole school was evacuated."

"Hey, I couldn't smell smoke. I figured it was just a drill," Tom said with a shrug. I glared at him. I would have hit him if I could be bothered getting up, but I wasn't. I was warm where I was, and protected from the wind. "Anyway," Tom continued, "the animal control guys have left, and everyone's allowed back in."

"You sure?" Frog asked, standing up. Ekl stood up as well, leaving me to face the wind without them protecting me. I yelped, getting up quickly. I huddled near my friends, wondering if this would be the worst birthday I would ever have.

"Come on," Frog said, heading back towards the school. Tom, Ekl and I followed, shying away from the wind.

"Stupid rat," I muttered loudly.

"Get us kicked outta school," Ekl added.

"We're going inside," Tom said. "Shut up!" I hit Tom and he pushed me back. Frog gave us a look. He didn't have any brothers or sisters, so he didn't understand that this rough housing was a way of showing that we really loved each other. Way, way, way, way, way, way, WAY down, where you couldn't see it.

Tom followed us into the computer room, much to my annoyance.

"What do you want?" I snapped at him.

"Well, you know, classes won't be on till next bell, I thought I could sit in here with you guys and talk," Tom said enthusiastically.

"Get lost," I told him, pointing at the door. Tom poked his tongue out at me and sat on a desk.

"No," he said.

"Let him stay," Ekl said, but she sounded annoyed as well. Tom grinned, and swung his guitar around.

"You can play, but you can't sing," Frog said quickly. Tom pouted at us, strumming his guitar gently.

"I wonder where the rat came from," I said, thinking about the wet three and a half hours we had spent on the oval.

"Mutant," Tom said, without stopping his playing. I frowned at him.

"A mutant?" I asked. "Tom, that is the most stupidest, lame-ass--"

Suddenly, a very large, yellow rodent leapt onto the tables from behind one of the computers.


	3. Goddamn Pikachu

**Chapter 3: Goddamn Pikachu**

Ekl and I screamed, and Frog fell off the desk he was sitting on as the yellow rat-thing landed on the table. Tom jumped off his table, and backed away, swinging his guitar at the rat. It leapt across the tables, getting away from the screams and moving guitar. It paused on the table nearest the door, sniffed the air, allowing us a good look, then ran through, disappearing down the hall, people yelling as it passed them.

"Shit," Frog said. "Holy friggin' shit!" I helped him up, and he dusted himself off.

"Believe me now?" Tom asked. "It was a mutant." Ekl was shaking her head.

"That was no mutant," she said. "That was a Pikachu."

"That can't have been a Pikachu," I said, but even as I spoke, I knew that's what it had looked like. It was mouse-like in appearance, about as long as my arm with yellow colouring and a long tail that widened at the tip with a kink about mid-length. The tips of its long, rounded ears were black, and it had red marking on its cheeks that appeared to be covered in a finer, shorter fur. It even had two dark stripes across its back.

"Pikachu, as in that bloody fat yellow thing on Pokemon?" Frog asked. He was obviously in a bad mood; Frog didn't swear much unless he was _really_ in a bad mood. Ekl, Tom and I nodded.

"Maybe animals are mutating into Pokemon," Tom suggested, blue eyes wide.

"Shut up about the damn mutants!" I yelled.

"Look," Frog said, slightly calmer now. "We should tell someone. Say another one of those rats appeared."

"Maybe you didn't hear us," Ekl said loudly, still sounding stressed. "That was a Pikachu. _A. Fucking. Pikachu_. A make-believe, goddamn animal."

"Do you think that's what Animal control was out here to catch before?" I asked. Tom nodded, the other two bickering too hard to have heard me.

"Gotta be," he said.

"Yo, guys," I said, trying to shut my friends up a moment.

"What?" Ekl snapped. She obviously hadn't recovered as well as we had.

"We'll shut up about it for now," I told them. "If anyone asks, we won't deny not seeing it, but other than that, we don't say a thing. We don't need to stir up any more trouble. Got it?" The other three nodded.

"I wish I was old enough to drink," Frog said, "I'd love one just about now." I giggled, and Frog grinned at me.

"Yeah, so fucking funny," Ekl swore sarcastically. "Goddamn Pikachu!"

* * *

The school was buzzing for the rest of the day about the giant rats. Frog, Ekl and I didn't say a word to anyone about it, but the rumours going around school were amazing. Many of the younger kids, like Tom, believed it was a mutant. I wonder what they had all been reading for them to come to that conclusion. The older kids thought it was an experiment by Mr Albertson, the science teacher, escaped and out for blood. The people who were familiar with Pokemon hadn't seen it, except for Ekl and I, and we weren't saying anything. Frog still wouldn't believe that's what it was.

"How can it be?" he asked on the bus that afternoon. "How the hell can it be a Pikachu?"

Frog and I go home on the same bus. He was a twenty minute walk from my house, and got on in the mornings after me. It was a long trip, well over an hour, but we made it interesting by having competitions with the other kids, such as games of 'Mercy', staring competitions, and occasionally, when we were really desperate for something to do, 'I spy'. Frog was sitting beside me, Tom in front of us, as we discussed what we had seen earlier that day.

"What else could it have been?" I asked. "Anyway, Ekl and I know what we saw. Our theory is no more unreasonable than anyone else's."

"I don't know," Tom piped up. "Mr Albertson has some pretty strange stuff in the science lab."

"Hey," I said, poking Frog in the arm. "You going for a walk today?" Frog nodded. Recently, as a 'Get Healthy' program, the teachers had warned us our year would be having a full day of exercise and games sometime in the near future. Frog had insisted on getting fit for this, although he was already fit. He often asked me to come walking with him, to keep him company. It meant Tom would bug me for hours after I got back, asking if we had kissed or something, but he'd always stop after I threatened to tell Charlotte he liked her.

Charlotte was a girl in Tom's class, and she was the pretty, popular one. Blond hair, blue eyes, most guys fell over their tongues going to talk to her. Tom didn't like her, he said she was shallow and mean, but she adored him. Why, I'm not sure.

"So are you getting off at my place then?" Frog asked.

"Ooooo," Tom cooed.

"Charlotte," I coughed, and Tom narrowed his eyes at me.

"What did you say?" he demanded.

"You know exactly what I said," I replied, staring him straight in the eye. "You can take my bag home, ok?" I put my bag onto the seat beside Tom, and he looked at it sulkily. I leant forward and took my birthday presents from my bag; I didn't want Tom breaking them if he threw my bag down like he did his own.

"What's that?" he asked, eyeing the Pokebelt.

"What's it look like?" I asked, looping it through my pants.

"So, you could have caught that Pikachu, and you didn't?" Tom said, raising an eyebrow. Mentally, I swore, long and loud. To Tom, I just shook my head.

"It probably wouldn't have worked," I said.

"Come on," Frog said, standing up as the bus pulled up to his bus stop. I jumped off behind Frog, and we waited for the bus to leave before crossing the road. "Come in for a drink," Frog said. "Mum should have been shopping today, and we might have lemonade or something." I followed him down his driveway, thinking about what Tom said.

"Do you reckon one of these Pokeballs could have caught that Pikachu?" I asked Frog, pulling one off my belt and looking at it.

"No way," Frog said shaking his head. "It wasn't a Pikachu."

I wasn't so sure.

Frog lives in a reasonably large house, his great grandfather, (supposably called "Snake" Walker) built it a little over sixty years ago. It had four bedrooms, and several rooms that didn't seem to have much of a purpose. Although the Walker's were a small family, they managed to find things to fill with these rooms. Indoor toilets, for example. Before hand, about ten years ago, their toilet had been a long drop, about fifty metres from the house. It had long since been filled in, a flagpole in its place, and I shuddered at thinking about the poor people who would have had to use it in the dead of night.

Frog's mum was in their kitchen when we walked in, humming and cutting out biscuits. If you want food for charity causes, Mrs Walker is the person you go to. She could make nearly anything in her oven, and had made her kitchen into her temple. However, although she cooked, Frog and his father had to share most of the house work. Cooking, it turned out, was the only thing Mrs Walker did, and only as a hobby.

"Hello, Koosh," she beamed at me.

"Hello, Mrs Walker," I said as Frog went straight to the fridge. He dumped his bag beside it, then stuck his head in to search of drinks.

"I've told you, Koosh, to call me June," Mrs Walker said with good humour. I shook my head, knowing she preferred 'Mrs Walker' from kids under eighteen. She had Frog's straight build, with brown hair loosely tied at the base of her neck. Her brown eyes were bright as new dollar coins, and she had a fantastic sense of creativity.

"Coke or Solo?" Frog asked me, holding up two soft drink cans.

"Coke," I said to him. "You know I don't drink Solo." Frog closed the fridge and handed me the red Coke can.

"Going for a walk today?" Mrs Walker guessed. We nodded our heads.

"Might head down towards the river today," he said.

"Watch out for snakes," Mrs Walker said. Frog and I nodded again, and walked out of the house.

"I bet those biscuits will be ready by the time we get back," I said, thinking greedily of the biscuits she'd been making.

"Yeah, I'd rather cake or something," Frog said, taking a swig from his coke.

"Hey kids," someone called out across the back yard.

"Hey Dad," Frog said. A tall man walked over to us, a shovel in one hand. As far as I could tell, Frog's dad had been digging out a small pond for during the warmer months. He had green eyes and short cut dark brown hair. Everyone called him Tad, and he was one of the few Walker's not to have a reptilian or amphibian name, but there were plenty of others. Frog's grandfather, or great uncle, I wasn't sure which, lived in the old folk's home in town, and was known as Turtle. I often saw him during my visits to one of the other old people. Frog had an aunt called Gecko, and I think two of his cousins were Goanna and Skink. It all got a little confusing, but quite fun come Christmas time when they all came to the Walker farm for a get together. I'm not sure where the names had originated from, though I'm sure great grandpa "Snake" Walker had something to do with that, too.

"Hope you've been good today," Tad said to Frog. Frog rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Dad," he said. "I didn't hack into important today."

"Good," Tad said, ruffling Frog's hair up. Frog once got into trouble for breaking into the school's system and getting a few phone numbers and personal details for a year twelve who had threatened to beat him to a pulp if he didn't. Frog was smart and fast, but the year twelver was huge and sneaky.

Frog ducked out of the way of Tad's hand. "There was a problem with a stray animal at school today. We were outside for most of the day, waiting for Animal control, so I didn't get a chance to go on the computer's much," Frog explained.

"Why weren't the parents called?" Tad asked. I shrugged.

"A lot of people like us live pretty far out," I said. "It may have been easier for us to miss just half a day than a full one and have parents waste so much time."

Tad nodded. "Makes sense," he agreed. He walked back to the pond, and Frog and I continued walking, heading for the river.

There's a river that cuts across the back of our properties, and was an excellent fishing spot. Frog and I went camping out there quite often, and even Ekl came sometimes. It's a decent walk away, and usually, when we went camping, we took the Walker's horses. They had three; Snowy, the small grey horse who was quiet as a lamb, Star, a bigger chestnut mare with a white star on her face, and Harry, a dark brown gelding. I would have loved a horse, but Dad hated them. He refused to buy one.

"God, it's been a long day," Frog said. I nodded in agreement. At least the weather had become more agreeable.

"Could have been worse," I said. "It could have been someone's birthday."

"Oh shit, Koosh, I forgot about your birthday!" Frog exclaimed. "Today must have been hell for you."

"Hey, it was fine until about twenty to nine," I said. I shrugged. "No big deal. There's always next year."

"We'll make it up to you, you know," Frog said seriously. "Ekl and me, that is."

"Don't worry about it," I insisted. I bumped into him playfully as we walked. "We didn't know what was going to happen today, and anyway, we couldn't have changed it if we had." We walked in silence until the river, side by side. "Thanks, by the way," I said. "Today could have been worse. You guys made it bearable." Frog grinned at me.

"Good thing you have me as a friend, then," he said, pushing me playfully. I pushed him back and ran away, laughing. He chased me all the way to the river, where we sat and talked about nothing for an hour before heading home.


	4. Get Healthy Program

**Chapter 4: Get Healthy Program**

Remember how I mentioned the year 10 'Get healthy' program? Well, turns out the school had it scheduled for the Wednesday after my birthday. The day would involve dodge ball, a run/walk around the lake, and basketball. Ekl and I weren't looking forward to the idea, while Frog couldn't care less. Mum almost let me stay home, but I'm glad she didn't. You'll know why in a little while.

The sports day started out ordinarily enough. Frog and I got to school at half part eight, waited for Ekl for five minutes, then spent twenty minutes on the computers, waiting for the bell to go for assembly. In that time, Frog managed to find three stamps on eBay he wanted, and put bids on them.

Like I said before, Frog collects stamps and takes it very seriously. Ekl teases him about it all the time; it's the only thing she can get him really worked up over. She'll say something stupid like she's going to go to his house and burn the collection, which is one of the biggest in Australia, and he'll sulk. I've told her several times not to do it, but she still does when she can't find any other way to insult him.

So, after assembly, all the year 10s went to the community centre, which the school must have booked for the day, and split us into two groups. Ekl and I were on the opposite team to Frog in dodge ball, which was not good news for me or Ekl.

"So, do we have a plan for this?" Ekl asked me as we lined up against the wall. From the far side, Frog gave us a cheeky wave. He knew our side had no chance, even though we were evenly matched in numbers. His team had all of the cricket players with the excellent aim, while our side had the smart, yet un-sporty kids, who didn't know a dodge ball from a cricket ball.

"Dodge the balls?" I suggested lamely. The whistle blew, and there was a mad rush for the balls. Ekl and I held back, waiting for a few people to be hit or caught out before getting into the action.

Frog was like a mad man, running in and out, pelting the ball at whoever was closest, jumping and weaving away from the balls thrown at him. Our team put all our efforts into trying to get him out, but it was near impossible.

Ekl and I soon got into it, once our side had diminished a little. Ekl picked up a ball, and flung it as hard as she could, without even trying to aim at anyone. Surprisingly, it flew through the air and made Frog have to jump hurriedly out of the way. He slipped and landed heavily, swearing blue murder (I'm not sure the teacher's noticed amongst everyone else yelling) and everything sort of stopped for a minute. Everyone was so shocked that Frog had been made to fall over, that we didn't even take the chance to hit him out. He got up, and Ekl paled.

"You are so dead," he said, loud enough for her to hear. Ekl groaned. She'd known that was coming, and feared what it meant.

I was hit out maybe a minute later, by one of the worse players on Frog's team. I had tried to catch the ball, but Frog feigned a shot at me, so I dropped it in surprise. I moved to the sidelines, yelling out support to the few people left in my team.

"Catch it, catch it! No, don't run away from the ball!" I was yelling. "Go, Ekl, CATCH!"

Soon, however, there was only Ekl and another girl on our team, and well over half left on Frog's. Frog had one ball, our side had the rest. Ekl was collecting them when she realised Frog was walking up to the middle line, weapon in his hand. She had her arms full with dodge balls, so there was no chance of her catching him out. Instead, she attempted throwing them. Now, the first shot was a fluke, and Frog knew that. He ignored the balls bouncing past him, pathetically thrown by Ekl, aiming his shot carefully. Ekl gave a squeak, still throwing the balls in her arms at him quickly. When she threw the last one, she turned and ran, in hope of getting out of range.

No such luck.

Frog threw the ball at Ekl hard, hitting her on the bum on the full, resulting in many yells of "OUT!" Grudgingly, Ekl made her way to the steps, rubbing where the ball had hit her. The last member of our team was hit out moments later.

* * *

"God, I thought you were going to kill me with that dodge ball," Ekl said on our way around the lake after recess.

"What, you thought that was your punishment for making me fall over?" Frog asked, smiling slightly. "No way."

"Cut it out you two," I said. Exercise makes me slightly moody, if I'm not doing it out of my own free will. We'd since been left behind by the rest of our class, who had all chosen to run (the show offs). Ekl didn't like running, either, and Frog wasn't much of a runner, so we were walking. There was no teacher to keep an eye on us; they'd all run ahead with the other kids, probably not realising we weren't with the group. Anyway, there was no way we could get lost walking around the lake, as our path was more or less the road that followed the water's edge right around the lake.

"Hey," Frog said, stopping. Ekl and I stopped walking as well, a few feet in front of him.

"What?" Ekl asked.

"Didn't you see that?" Frog asked, pointing to the lake. "Look." About five metres into the water, a series of ripples were growing from something that had leapt out of the water. Frog was the only one to have seen it, so I'm not sure what it was. It was too big for a fish; the lake only had carp, the biggest about the length of my hand.

"What did it look like?" I asked, stepping towards the water's edge.

"I don't know," Frog replied, bending down and taking his shoes and socks off. He put them on the bank, and stepped into the freezing water. Luckily, he was wearing shorts (don't ask me why, because it had been freezing that morning) and the lake isn't too deep, about the same depth all around. He stood still in the water, about waist height, looking around him for whatever it had been. Ekl and I leant forward, curious at what he had seen. Obviously it had been something interesting, because he was willing to get wet to see it again.

Suddenly, Frog dove on something in the water, getting drenched from head to toe. Something thrashed underneath him, and I could tell it was bigger than any carp. When I realised what it was, I couldn't help but yell out.

Frog had a _Vaporeon_.

Its body was lean and regal looking, I wasn't sure if it was covered in light blue skin or fur. Fins stood out on its head, and its long finned tail thrashed wildly. It was definitely a Vaporeon, yet strongly different to its cartoon self, like the Pikachu was.

I ran into the water, wading over quickly to help Frog. Ekl was yelling something out excitedly, not game enough to get into the water, which I might add was as cold as ice. I grabbed onto the Vaporeon, not wanting it to disappear. We'd made that mistake with the Pikachu. The mongrel Pokemon bit me on the arm as we struggled with it towards shore. I yelped loudly, gripping it harder as it tried to wriggle away. Blood poured easily down my arm, and it wouldn't let go. Its teeth were like little jagged pieces of ice, and I could feel that part of my arm starting to numb over. Suddenly, it disappeared in a red light, and Frog and I fell on top of each other, tired from fighting with it. Ekl held up a red and white Pokeball that appeared to be glowing, ever so slightly. Frog had brought her Poke belt the other day, and obviously Ekl hadn't been without it ever since. I wish I had thought to bring mine.

"Good thinking," I said, squelching out of the lake. I lay down on the grass between the road and the lake, breathless. I had never been really fit, but I think I would have been just as exhausted if I had been.

"Ok, so what the hell was that?" Frog demanded, sitting on the grass beside me.

"That was Vaporeon," Ekl said, sounding very proud. "And _I_ caught it."

"_You_ caught it?" Frog asked, standing up. "Koosh and I wrestled it out of the water."

"But I got it in the Pokeball," Ekl said gleefully. "Rightfully making it mine." I looked up at her, sniffing from the cold water dripping down my nose.

"I think we deserve that, thank you," I said coldly. "I didn't see you getting wet or bitten to get it to shore."

"But I caught it in the Pokeball," Ekl said, disappointed I wasn't taking her side.

"Hand it over," Frog said. Ekl gave it to him sulkily.

"Frog, we'll count that as your get back for her making you fall over in dodge ball," I said, trying to sit up, but feeling too tired and heavy with water to do much else.

"Alright," he said, looking disappointed that he wouldn't be able to torment Ekl with his threat to get her back. "I was going to give you this, anyway." He thrust the Pokeball under my nose. I pushed it way.

"You did the most work," I said. "And you're not going to pay Ekl any revenge, and Ekl isn't going to bug you about the Vaporeon being her Pokemon, got it?" Both Ekl and Frog nodded.

"Holy corn, what happened to your arm?" Ekl asked suddenly, noticing my arm. It was completely covered in blood now, dripping loudly onto the grass with the excess lake water. I was starting to shiver now, and I sneezed.

"We'd better get you some help," Frog said, helping me up. He looked cold, too, but he was more concerned about my arm.

"Damn thing bit me," I mumbled, checking out the damage. "Think I might need stitches." Luckily, it was about that moment one of the teachers drove past, looking for us three lost students.

* * *

"What did you do to yourself?" Mrs Phillips tutted as she lifted the shirt I was holding over my arm. Mrs Phillips is the town doctor, and very nice. She's sort of short with grey streaked brown hair, cut short and tied in a stumpy ponytail on the back of her head and strong, grey eyes. Like everyone else, she's good friends with my Mum and knows my family quite well. She hates to be called Doctor Phillips, I think because she used to get all sorts of "Dr. Phil" jokes. If she tells you to do something, you do it, and without argument. She just had a way of making you do things that were meant for your own good.

"I got bitten," I said, pressing the shirt down again as she went about getting what she needed. I was soaked through, and feeling very cold and sorry for myself. Frog wasn't looking too healthy either, and I knew we'd both have horrible colds in the next day or two.

"That dog will need to be shot," Mrs Phillips said sternly, resulting in yells of "no way!" from Ekl.

"It wasn't a dog," I said.

"I know a dog bite when I see one," she said.

"It was a Pokemon," Ekl spoke up. "A Vaporeon."

"Don't be silly," Mrs Phillips said. "You're too old to believe in that sort of thing." Mrs Phillips had her own kids who all followed Pokemon, and many of the younger kids who came to the doctor's office would ask for Pokemon bandaids, so it's no surprise she knew what we were talking about. She held up a needle, and I paled when I saw it.

"This will only hurt a bit," she promised. I hate needles. I don't like pain. I knew it wouldn't be any worse than the bite, but I still flinched when she came near me with it. "Don't be silly," Mrs Phillips said. "It's just a tiny needle." I looked away as she inserted it, and was relieved when she said "it's out."

"Will it need stitches?" I asked. Mrs Phillips nodded. I must have paled even more when she said that, and I turned away as she got her equipment ready, humming to herself gently.


	5. No shit, Sherlock

**Chapter 5: No shit, Sherlock**

Mum came into town to pick me up, with a spare change of clothes for both me and Frog. Since it was almost home time, Frog came home with us as well. The teachers didn't know he'd left with us, but Mum didn't mind. I think it was the fact that it was just a sports day that allowed Frog to come home with us. Tom, however, was made to go home on the bus alone.

"How did you get bitten?" Mum wanted to know on the way home.

"You wouldn't believe me," I said.

"Koosh, you can't not tell me," Mum insisted. Rolling my eyes, I sighed.

"A Pokemon bit me," I said.

"Koosh," Mum said, in that tone all mothers have.

"See, I told you that you wouldn't believe me," I said. "Frog, tell her what happened."

"We found a Pokemon in the lake, and Koosh got bitten as we tried to pull it out," Frog explained.

"A toy?" Mum asked.

"No," I said. "Weren't you listening? The Pokemon bit me!"

"Don't yell at me," Mum snapped. Mum and I argue a lot, but we are very close, so it doesn't seem to matter as much. Mum is a tall woman with blond-brown hair. She knows nearly everyone in town, and is good friends with most of them. She's always going to craft group or taking Tom to sports or in town for parent's club or school council. Since it's only a small town, she's got to know nearly everyone.

"It's true, though," I muttered after a moment's silence. "Frog's got it in a Pokeball."

"Why are you still going on about it?" Mum wanted to know. "Ok, so you don't want to tell me. Maybe it was a friend's dog that you want to protect. But surely you could have come up with a better story than a Pokemon bit you."

"Frog, pass us the Pokeball," I said, turning to Frog. He handed it over without argument, and I held the ball up with my good arm so Mum could see it in the mirror. "When we stop the car, we'll show you," I said. Mum just shook her head.

Mum stopped at Frog's place first. Mrs Walker came out to say thank you and invite Mum in for a drink as Frog and I readied ourselves to have a look at this Vaporeon.

"I don't know where it came from," I was saying. "Technically, it's impossible, but then again, there was that Pikachu we saw the other day."

"Come on," Mum said impatiently. "Show us this 'Pokemon'."

Frog pressed the button on the Pokeball, and it expanded, just like on the show. The Pokeballs, which we had studied from every angle, were exact replicas from the cartoon, yet Frog couldn't figure out how or why they worked. That scared me; if Frog couldn't figure out how they worked, where the hell had they come from? Another press of the button and red light evaporated from it, forming a shape on the ground in front of us.

The Vaporeon stood haughtily in front of us, glancing around. Mum and Mrs Walker took a deep breath inward each, staring at it.

"See," I told them. No-one moved for a few moments, until the Vaporeon sat down and started licking its paw like a cat.

"Strange looking thing, isn't it?" Frog said.

"What is it?" Mum asked.

"A Vaporeon," I said. "But it's not meant to be real." I didn't need to explain to Mum the concept of Pokemon, she was already sort of familiar because of me and Ekl.

The Vaporeon gave us all a look, then wandered over to Frog. It sat at his feet, looking up at him with its big, dark eyes. It made a funny noise, a bit like a doggy purr, and rubbed its head on Frog's hand.

"Wow," Frog said. He looked up at me. "You wouldn't believe this is the same thing from before."

"Maybe because we jumped it?" I suggested. "If you were swimming, and someone grabbed you unexpectedly, you'd fight back too." We all looked at the Vaporeon, it mewing (I suppose you could call the noises it was making as mewing) at Frog.

"Oh my god," Mum said. I think she was too stunned to say anything else. Mrs Walker hadn't said a thing yet.

"So, now what?" Frog asked, rubbing the Vaporeon behind the fins on its head. It purred loudly.

"Name it, I guess," I said with a shrug. "Is it male or female?" A quick, subtle look told us the Vaporeon was female.

"What do you call a Pokemon?" Frog asked, looking at me pleadingly. He was way in over his head with this sort of thing, I realised.

"Anything," I said. "Splash, Mermaid, Waterfall, Squirt, anything to do with water, I guess. Or just a normal name will do. Penny, Trish, Loretta."

"You name it," Frog said to me. "Since you won't take it."

"Marika," Mrs Walker said.

"What?" Frog and I asked in unison.

"Call it Marika," Mrs Walker said. "I had a doll called Marika when I was a little girl. My most favourite toy in the whole world, she was." Frog shrugged.

"Ok," he said. "Marika." Marika just purred. He looked up at me. "What was a Vaporeon doing in our lake?" he asked me. I shook my head. I had no idea.

* * *

Frog came back to our place to do some homework. We often helped each other out, or at any rate, talked about maybe putting it off until tomorrow. Our house is big, but with fewer rooms than the Walker's. The rooms are huge (you could get lost for three days in our lounge room before search and rescue would find you) and we had a lot of junk to fill these rooms with. Mum had her crafts and stuff in the sun room, and Tom and I had enough junk to sink a battleship. However, neither of us wanted to get rid of any of our things. The guest bedroom was possibly the room with the least stuff in it, but even it had a lot.

Frog and I were sitting outside when Tom finally got home from school. School finishes at three thirty, and we usually get home at quarter to five. Like I said, it's a long trip. Tom seemed very excited.

"Koosh!" he yelled, running up to us. "You won't believe it! On the radio, they said there were reports all over Australia about Pokemon attacks! That _was_ a Pikachu we saw! Pokemon are real!"

"Not shit, Sherlock," Frog said, not unkindly.

"What happened to your arm?" Tom asked, noticing my arm was bandaged up. "And why weren't you home on the bus?"

"Mum came and got me and Frog," I explained. "And I got bitten by a Vaporeon."

"What?" Tom yelped.

"We found a Vaporeon in the lake, and we caught it," Frog said, taking the Pokeball out of his pocket. Tom's eyes went wide as Frog sent out Marika.

"Whoa," he said. Marika stared at Tom for a moment, then sent a small jet stream of water at his chest. Tom stepped back, trying to deflect the attack.

"Marika, cut it out," Frog said, putting a hand on the Vaporeon's neck after we'd finished laughing. Marika stopped spitting water.

"How'd it do that?" Tom wanted to know. Frog and I shrugged.

"Don't know," I said. "She soaked Dad when we came home, too." Tom laughed.

"I would have liked to see that," he said wistfully. Frog took his hand off the back of Marika's neck, and she started soaking Tom again. "Cut it out!" he spluttered. Frog and I were laughing so hard, it took a moment or two before Frog got Marika to stop.

"Sorry," Frog said to him. He was stroking Marika gently on the head, and she was making the purring noises again.

"Where did they come from?" Tom wanted to know. "They had to have come from somewhere. If you ask me, they're mutants."

"Damn mutants!" I yelled, making the other two jump. "You say one more word about bloody mutants, and you'll regret it!"

"Mutant," Tom said before running into the house. Frog sniggered, but I glared at the door as Tom locked it from the inside.

"Smartass," I muttered loudly before turning my attention back to the math sheet in front of me.


End file.
